Caught Between Two Worlds
by Kanaeverlost
Summary: iKana finds a boy surviving to death and must do anything and everything to try to feed them both.


Caught Between Two Worlds

**2009**

Caught Between Two Worlds

July 20

2009

A miniseries of Gone by Michael Grant

kanaeverlost

**iKana**

With each passing day, kids are getting more restless. The food is now starting to disappear or it has gone rotten; most children are eating the rotten food because that is all that is left. I, on the other hand, made rations in my own house. I separated cans of peas and corn into three day intervals. A can will now last me three days; hopefully. It's been working so far, but with each day, I am getting hungrier and hungrier. I place water from bottles in a hidden compartment in my parent's closet, just in case something where to happen; the reason why I am prepared the way I am is because my parents were always worried about tornados and storms. They always thought something horrible would happen and we would need a backup plan. Well, I guess it worked after all.

The forth week after all adults and mostly all teens "disappeared"; I headed down to my aunt's house. My cousins had disappeared as well, they were well over fifteen. I walked into the empty house not knowing what I was going to find. I walked through the living room into the kitchen to find the back door kicked in. Glass was everywhere. Well, I guess when kids get hungry they will do anything. The cupboards were all empty, cans left empty on the floor. I picked them up and placed them into the garbage. Even though all parents were gone, did not mean we need a dirty house. I felt obligated to clean a mess when I saw one. I felt like my parents would want me to.

After I cleaned the kitchen I headed upstairs into the bedrooms. To the right of the stairs was my cousin, Jessica`s room. Jessica was eighteen, just about to head off to university. That`s when I saw him. A boy, laying in Jessica`s bed. Not much older than twelve. I took a step back. After seeing the town with angry scared kids, I had no clue what he would do. That is when the boy moved. His head turned to look at me.

His eyes wild, they were looking blankly at me. No. Not at me, through me. What was this kid's problem? Why was he just laying there? I looked closely at him; his bones were showing through his skin. What is wrong with him? But in my mind, I knew what was happening.

I raced down the stairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed a cup and poured water into it. When I headed back into the bedroom, he was still staring at me. I raised his head onto the pillows. Placed the plastic cup against his lips and tilted it up. The water flowed into his mouth and down his throat. I placed the water next to him on the side table, than I told him I will be right back. As I headed out the door his eyes slowly closed.

Ten minutes later I arrive back at my house. I race into the kitchen and grab the crackers on the first shelf of the cabinet. Crackers will help slowly bring back his metabolism. I opened the refrigerator and took the milk out. I snatched two cans of chicken noodle soup and a bag of golden potatoes. I placed the food into a garbage bag and ran up stairs into the bathroom. I took all of the medication available and placed it into my purse.

Fifteen minutes later, I am back looking into the eyes of the starving stranger. I have no clue what his name is or where he came from; but the one thing I do know is that I am not going to be the reason for him dying. I see a boy in trouble, I see a boy who needs someone to take care of him. This is the first time I had to take care of someone who needs medical attention. I wonder if I am going to be able to help him. Well, here is my chance now.

I cooked a pot of potatoes and mashed them up so they were in liquid form. I added a little bit of milk to make it drinkable. Then I headed up to the bedroom and place the spoon full of potatoes into his mouth. I lifted his head up so he could swallow it better. Right after he swallowed the potatoes I gave him a little bit more water. After giving him some food, I let him sleep for a while.

Day after day, I help this boy get his strength back. I bring survival books in the house and read them while I sit with him. The last thing I want for him is to be alone. Going through this is enough.

Three weeks have gone by since I first laid my eyes on him; and I still do not know his name. The rations are getting lower every day. The last time I entered my house I went to get the secret rations I had put away for later months. As I picked up the can goods I realized that this was the first time I actually `looked` at parent's things. Tears started to roll down my cheeks. I started remembering little things about my parents that I thought I would never miss.

Remembering these little things made them seem real. It felt like my father was standing over me with his heavy scent of cologne. Impossible. I placed my hands on either side of my head and shook. Why is it happening to me? I thought I was strong enough to leave these thoughts behind. The pain in remembering my parents hurt too much. I had to get away.

I ran back to the boy, but this time he was not laying in bed but sitting.

"So your strong enough to sit now, that's good. Don't try to talk though; you're not in good enough health. I have no clue what would happen if you tried."

"Thank you. Thank you for everything."

"I said don't try to talk, your still weak." What a stupid thing to say, if he can sit up he can talk. Words kept coming from my mouth without checking them out with my brain.

"I think I am good to talk. It's the standing and walking I need time to do still."

A little giggle came from my mouth.

"I can see I still have my humour after everything that has happened to me. How long has it been since you first came here?"

"It's been about a month. But I don't know how long you have been here before I found you. Do you remember what happened to you?" I spoke softly.

He must have paused for at least three minutes. His eyes were staring at me. Then he spoke, "All I remember is coming here with a bunch of friends trying to find food. After all the adults left we had sort of like a food party. It wasn't smart but who would ever know that we would need to ration it out this long." A wet cough came from his mouth, "Sorry. Anyways, I went to the kitchen to find some food when two of my friends jumped me. All I remember is them saying 'fair game'. I was so hurt; another person found me lying on the kitchen floor and brought me here. I think it was my other friend, the one who just stood there and did nothing."

My voice was now rocky, "They left you here to die, didn't they?"

"I never did anything wrong. All I wanted was food. Food so I could survive. But I guess they wanted it more. Enough to try to kill someone."

"Why would someone do that, though? It just doesn't make any sense. If they wanted to take the food, they just should have. They shouldn't have beaten you up for it."

"Well, if the guy you were trying to steal food from was bigger than you, would you run? Or team up and try to kill the person so that he couldn't hurt you first?"

Once the words spilled from his mouth, I understood completely. Although I still would never do such a thing. "When did this all happen? Who were these 'so called friends'???"

"Slow down, first thing first. My name is Allister. And yours?"

He was acting as if it was nothing. Kids tried to kill him and it seems like it hardly affected him. Mentally of course. I stood staring at him blankly.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

Did he think this was a joke? This is serious, someone tried to murder him. Does he understand what happened to him completely? "How are you so calm? Someone TRIED to kill you?" I was yelling at him.

"Thanks to you they tried but failed." His glazed lowered; he was now looking at his feet. "I understand why they did it, even if it was wrong. They were hungry, we were all hungry."

"You act as if everything is fine. Why? Knowing that your friends did this, wouldn't you want justice? To show them that you are better than them."

"This isn't time for justice. We were all hungry, but I guess this was the only way they knew how to get food for themselves. I understand completely. After what happen, I had a lot of time to think and I thought about how if I was in that same situation as they were, I would have done the same thing. If they were bigger than I and I thought they would be able to take all the food for themselves I would have teamed up and..."

I noticed that his emotion in his eyes changed, from hopeful to hatred; hatred of himself. I wanted to comfort him and tell him that everything would be alright, but I knew better. Thoughts like this needed to be sort through within the person himself, and not with others, so I started a completely different conversation.

"Allister, are you hungry? Do you want me to make you more mashed beans?"

"I think I will pass on the mashed...beans? Do you have any more potatoes left?" His voice was quiet and shallow.

"You need more protein in your body or you won't get better. So your choice is between beans or beans." A smirk followed my smile. Maybe laughter would help stop him from thinking about his old...friends?

I hurried down stairs and made mashed beans for him. I hurried so that he will not be alone, being alone means thinking about what happened to him; and no matter what he went through I don't want his emotions boiling even further.

Ten minutes later and I am back with him. I am sitting on the chair to the left of him eating beans and more beans. I need to find more food to stay alive. I have about twenty-seven cans left. I didn't realize how much food I gave to him trying to get him better. Not trying to blame him, I am just stating that when there are two mouths to feed food goes quick. The food at the grocery store is already starting to disappear as well. I went there to check what food I needed, but when I looked at all the food that was left, which wasn't must I could not take. Just knowing that there are younger kids than me who need it made the decision for me.

I needed to find a way to get food. That is the most important thing right now. If we don't have food Allister will not be able to get his strength back to normal and I will go hungry as well. Maybe I could go find a garden or a field somewhere. Are there any gardens left? What if kids got at all on them?


End file.
